Wiltshire man calls for babies buried in unmarked graves to be recognised
John Murphy's sister was buried in an unmarked grave in 1960
A Wiltshire man, who's stillborn sister was buried in an unmarked grave in the 1960s, says they need to be recognised with a memorial.
Before the turn of the century, more than 89,000 stillborn babies were buried in shared plots without ceremony, record or memorial, with families often told they couldn't attend the burial.
In the case of John Murphy's parents, they weren't told at all.
John, who's from Chippenham, wrote to his MP, Sarah Gibson, after finding his sisters grave in Reading, which is where she was born and records, fortunately, had been kept.
Her body was buried along with five other stillborn babies, and is in a patch of grass that is uneven, but always maintained.
But by the time he found his sister, both his parents were late into their lives.
"My mum wasn't strong enough at that stage, mentally, to have had a discussion with her and taken her to the grave," John said. "But I did tell my dad I did take Dad to the grave and put flowers down. Dad wanted to put a marker down a border around the grave, or a stone or whatever. But of course the legalities prevented that."
John revealed his mum had struggled with mental health throughout her life, and while he's unsure of the impact losing a baby had on her, he is certain knowing where the grave was would have provided her with some much needed closure.
He told us he was at least able to tell his mum that the baby had been buried.
It was a different time - but an easy decision to recognise them
John said things were done very differently back then, in a time where the country was only a decade and a half removed from the second world war. Babies would be quickly taken away with little or no communication as to what was happening.
Nowadays, parents are afforded time with their baby before saying their goodbyes.
John recounted that his dad had simply been told: "I'm awfully sorry, Mr Murphy. There'll be another one next year."
He's calling on MP's to take what he calls a "straightforward" decision in approving memorials for babies in unmarked graves.
He says it's something his four other brothers are keen to see happen: "Specifically on behalf of my brother Dominic, whose own time is now coming to an end, we would love to see a small monument in every grave in the UK where these infants are buried.
"We acknowledge that years ago that was deemed the be the right way to deal with their passing because they weren't registered as born, so they weren't registered as people, so therefore they were just buried as bodies.
"But it would be good for people like me, and there must be many, to know where they are and have somewhere that recognises those children were known, they were loved and they were cherished."
He says there is likely to be MP's who are from families that have been affected by this, insisting it's not something that needs enormous amounts of money poured into it.
MP for Chippenham, Calne, Corsham, Lyneham and Royal Wootton Bassett, Sarah Gibson, has tabled a motion to Parliament for babies buried in unmarked graves to be given recognition with memorials.
Ms Gibson said: "The state played a role in this injustice. It must now play a role in healing. Memorialisation is not a luxury. We owe it to every family who left the hospital with empty arms and unanswered questions."